


A Thief in the Night

by argyue



Category: Infinite (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Could be platonic, Gen, How Do I Tag, M/M, Pre-Relationship, Why Did I Write This?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-09
Updated: 2017-10-09
Packaged: 2019-01-10 23:30:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12310167
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/argyue/pseuds/argyue
Summary: Woohyun confronts the thief who just robbed his house. (Cross-posted to aff)





	A Thief in the Night

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry. I wrote most of this on my phone at 3am. And I have no clue when/where this is set. (But Gyu is around 17 here, which would make Namu around 15.)

Woohyun was exhausted. Over the past month, listening to his father seethe about the family’s reputation had become a daily ordeal. And he had learned by now that opening his mouth would result in an even more vitriolic rant about the misfortune of his birth. _As if it’s my fault he couldn’t keep it in his pants_ , he thought bitterly.

He was lying in bed, enveloped by the darkness of his room. And no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't fall asleep. Tossing and turning uneasily, he did his best to ignore the memories that kept resurfacing in his mind.

When that failed, he groaned and sat up. Hoping to relieve at least some of the discomfort, he decided to use the restroom. But as soon as he stepped out of the bedroom, he was startled by a shadowy figure rounding the corner of the hallway.

Pursuing it silently, an unwise choice in hindsight, he found himself peering past the front door of his house. The figure began to open the outside gate, and then paused to glance over its shoulder.

Woohyun heard a faint gasp and saw narrow eyes widening as they locked in on him. Realizing that a confrontation was unavoidable now, he stepped outside and spoke up.

"What exactly are you doing right now?"

The figure hesitated, and then turned around fully. Finally getting a proper look, Woohyun could tell it was a boy around his own age. He appeared to be clutching a small sack tightly to his chest, but the enshrouding darkness made it difficult to see much else.

"What do you think I'm doing?" The boy asked in reply. His sharp tone snapped Woohyun back to attention immediately.

"Well, you obviously just broke into my house. Did you rob us?"

The boy narrowed his eyes; they were quite small to begin with, so the action made them almost invisible.

"Yeah, I did. Shouldn't you be calling for help right now?"

"Probably," Woohyun replied. He wasn't quite sure why he hadn't done so already.

A few seconds of awkward silence passed, before the thief rolled his eyes. "So are you actually going to do something then? Or should I just leave with all the money I took?"

“Why did you take the money?” Woohyun knew that calling for a servant, or even his father would be the ‘right’ thing to do. But he also knew from experience that doing the ‘right’ thing would not change his father’s treatment of him in the slightest.

“Are you seriously asking me that?” The thief’s tone was saturated with incredulity.

“Yes, I am.”

The boy didn’t seem to have a response ready. After staring blankly at Woohyun for a few seconds, he shook his head. “My reasons don’t change the fact that I’m stealing from you.”

“You’re not really stealing from me, you know. That’s my father’s money, not mine.”

“Isn’t the same thing? Your family’s money--”

“It isn’t,” Woohyun interjected. Ignoring the other boy’s perplexed look, he continued. “I still want to know why you’re taking it.”

“Fine. My family is poor, and yours is rich. Satisfied?” The boy huffed impatiently, waiting for his reaction.

Woohyun was starting to feel ridiculous. Maybe being cooped up in the house all day was bad for him after all. The servants were mostly decent company, but just a minute speaking with a boy closer to his age was enough to leave him desperate for a proper conversation. One that didn’t involve subservient fawning over his father’s noble status, or disparaging comments about the effects of Woohyun’s existence on said status.

Before he could figure out exactly what to say, the thief spoke up again.

"I guess I'm going then?" He looked and sounded rather perplexed as he turned back towards the gate.

"No wait!"

The thief glanced back at Woohyun curiously.

"Maybe we can... I don't know, talk or something?" Woohyun cringed as the words left his mouth.

The thief stared blankly at him. "Seriously? I just robbed you, and you want to hang out? Next you'll be asking to be friends or something."

"What if I do want to be friends?"

The thief shot him another exasperated look, and opened his mouth to retort. Before he could speak however, a loud bang from the house startled them both.

Petrified, they both waited uneasily for more sound. When it became clear that nothing more would happen, Woohyun huffed out a sigh of relief.

"I left the front door open a bit, and it probably just closed because of the wind."

The boy had steeled his expression again. "How about this? I'll give you the money and leave. I promise I won't be back."

"I don't care about the money, but I do want you to come back. Let's be friends!"

"Are you insane? You don't care that I just robbed you, and you want to be friends?"

"Well, it's not like much of that money's gonna be mine anyway. I'm the illegitimate son after all. And you probably have better use for the money than my dad does, honestly."

"That doesn't explain why you want to be my friend." The boy’s shrewd gaze was slightly unnerving.

Woohyun wasn’t sure he had a good explanation for that, but he had to try. "I haven’t been able to talk to anyone close to my age since my mother died. I had to move here to live with my dad, and he forces me to stay in the house all day.”

The boy didn’t respond, so Woohyun continued. “Plus, you’re more interesting than the servants. You probably wouldn’t suck up to my dad. And you’re kinda cute too."

"Hey! I'm two years older than you!" The boy’s affronted glare almost made him regret the comment.

After a moment though, Woohyun was furrowing his eyebrows. "Hold on. How exactly do you know how old I am?"

The boy’s eyes widened for a moment, but he covered up his reaction swiftly. "Well, everyone knows that Mr. Nam had an illegitimate son. Everyone was talking about it last month. Why wouldn't I know about you?"

"My father has been hiding my relation to him, as well as my entire existence until the rumors started last month. When he was forced to acknowledge me, he didn't say anything about how old I was. Other than the servants, no one really knows much about me."

The other boy huffed and crossed his arms, refusing to respond.

"Seriously, how do you know my age? Do you know one of the servants or something?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, I just guessed you were younger because you looked like it!"

"No, you're definitely acting weird..." Suddenly, realization struck him. "Don't tell me... you're Sunghye's little brother?"

'What?!"

"That has to be it! Sunghye is really nice. She always tries to spend time with me when she can. And she told me all about her smart little brother, Sunggyu! You said you’re two years older than me, right?"

"She must have been talking about someone else! I don't even have a sister. And seriously, I don't know any of the servants."

"No, I'm definitely right! She looks just like you, with the same tiny eyes and everything! And she used to tell me stories about how witty and cocky you were. I always wanted to meet you!"

The other boy, Sunggyu, seemed to have realized that disputing it further was useless. "Seriously, I'll give you the money back, just don't get my sister in trouble. Please."

"I already told you, I don't care about the money. And I wouldn't get her in trouble, I like her. She always sneaks me snacks between mealtimes, even after the cook caught her."

Sunggyu, heaved out a sigh. "Ok, fine. I'll come back some other time. During the day. Happy?"

"Yes!"

"I still think you're crazy though."

"That's fine! I don't mind."

Sunggyu turned around, reaching over to lift up the gate’s latch. After a watching for a moment, Woohyun glanced back at his front door. He was definitely in a better mood, but something felt off. What could he be forgetting?

"Wait..." He paled, detecting the problem. "The door locked itself when it swung shut earlier. I'm locked out!"

"Are you kidding? Don't you have the key or something?"

"... No."

“What kind of idiot just waltzes out of their house without bringing a key?”

“I seriously don’t have one! My dad doesn’t want me wandering around outside, being a disgrace or whatever.”

Sunggyu’s expression softened. "I guess you could get back in the same way I did earlier."

"Oh yeah! Show me how."

Sunggyu guided Woohyun to a window left of the door. He jiggled the shutter carefully, dislodging the latch. Then, he raised the window.

“Sunhye told me about this,” he whispered. “She did try to tell your father, but he refused to take a moment to listen.”

“That definitely sounds like something he’d do. He thinks wealth and nobility distinguish the value of a person’s words.”

Woohyun climbed through the window, taking hold of the shutter himself. Before he let it close, he took one more glance at Sunggyu. "You’d better come back sometime!"

"Alright, alright. I promise." The corner of his mouth quirked up, belying the exasperation in his tone.

And with that, he was gone.

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah, that was super awkward. And Namu’s actions don’t quite seem... rational. Oh well. I hope it was still somewhat enjoyable to read.


End file.
